In the past two years, one thing has become quite evident: the FMCG market landscape is changing too fast and too drastically, especially in the snack category. Various small brands and white-label products have ridden the wave of discount snack stores to quickly rise and capture market share, leaving many leading brands in the awkward position of "can't sell, dare not stock."
But there are always exceptions. A distributor from North China revealed: "Oreo always holds the prime shelf position, and even in discount stores, it maintains steady growth."
Indeed, after visiting multiple markets, the author found that this classic brand, which has been in China for over two decades, has not faded in the "involution" but has continued to stir the market with last year's "Coca-Cola collaboration" and "Cosmic Limited Edition," and this spring's "Flavors of the Eight Directions" series.
This makes one curious: In the current intense competition and industry reshuffle, why does Oreo, as a leading brand in the snack category, continue to thrive?
Active "playful spirit": Why does Oreo always fill the presence?
In the increasingly competitive snack market, consumer attention has become the scarcest resource. How to attract and continuously engage consumer attention? Launching new products and collaborations are common strategies, but with new products flooding the market, truly "standing out" is not easy.
As a classic brand with a century-long history, Oreo has not been pushed off the stage by the "younger generation" but has instead surprised the market with a series of pioneering creative ideas and innovative products. This spring's travel season, Oreo launched the "Flavors of the Eight Directions" series, which can be seen as a masterpiece of the brand's deep exploration of local culture.
Two spring limited-edition new products, "Red Beauty Fragrance" and "Top Scholar Sesame Fragrance," correspond to the dietary preferences of the South and North, drawing inspiration from traditional pastries and awakening regional memories through taste.
"Red Beauty Fragrance" is inspired by the southern flower cake, with rich milk fragrance perfectly intertwined with peony aroma, offering a sweet and refreshing floral milk taste; "Top Scholar Sesame Fragrance" is inspired by northern pastries, adding real sesame particles, with a savory-sweet interweaving and crispy texture.
The double-layer hollow packaging with embedded ancient-style poetry turns the unboxing process into a cultural exploration ritual, showcasing exquisite Chinese style.
In addition to the two spring limited-edition new products, Oreo has extended "regional culture" to the full upgrade of its flavor line. Centered on five famous city landmarks, it launched limited-edition biscuit patterns and packaging, combining architectural, floral, and flavor cultural symbols to turn each cookie into a "city postcard."
This creative idea of "one cookie, one city" precisely aligns with the current trend of national trend consumption, transforming snacks into a medium for conveying regional culture, allowing consumers to perceive the cultural charm of various parts of China through taste enjoyment.
Earlier, Oreo had already refreshed market perception through a series of innovative products. Last year's "Coca-Cola collaboration" and "Cosmic Limited Edition" are two classic cases of brand innovation.
In September last year, Oreo's cross-industry collaboration with Coca-Cola was hailed as a "match made in heaven"—injecting Coca-Cola syrup and popping candy into the classic cookie filling to create a unique bubbly taste.
More cleverly, the brand leveraged the "companion culture" (da zi culture) to transform the product into an emotional bond in young people's social scenarios, making the cookie transcend its snack attribute and become a medium for relaxed social interaction.
After the "Coca-Cola collaboration," Oreo amazed the market again with the new "Cosmic Limited Edition." Inspired by the Milky Way, it presents unique space element appearances. The "galaxy silhouette" design of the filling, paired with marshmallow-flavored cream filling infused with popping candy, brings consumers a dual surprise of taste and vision.
From "Coca-Cola collaboration" and "Cosmic Limited Edition" to "Flavors of the Eight Directions," Oreo has always adhered to the brand spirit of "Play Together," staying active in the public eye through continuous innovation.
When the industry is obsessed with "packaging involution," what is Oreo "rolling" about?
In recent years, new products from brands have emerged one after another, but many consumers' first reaction is often "just changing packaging or finding gimmicks." However, after in-depth understanding of Oreo's series of innovative actions, I found that this is not the case.
1. Cultural marketing, not just labeling
Each city has its unique cultural heritage, but with the acceleration of urbanization, this sense of regional cultural identity is also being lost. The phenomenon of "a thousand cities with one face" has also exacerbated people's spiritual emptiness.
Oreo precisely observed this, breaking away from the framework of piling up traditional cultural marketing elements, seizing the spring travel season, and using five city architectural limited-edition biscuit patterns as the core carrier, making the product a cultural symbol carrying city memories and emotional connections, activating consumers' exploration and love for diverse cultures with a playful spirit.
Online, it launched the hashtag #TakeOreoOnATrip#, and offline, it partnered with Ele.me to launch "Spring Flavor Hunt, Play in Eight Directions," holding a cherry blossom season flash mob event under the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, the great river city, and setting up a "Sweet Supply Station" for on-site tasting. It encourages people to release their playful spirit in busy lives, explore and savor the diverse cultures from different regions of China.
2. Collaborations are not "forced tie-ins," but precise responses to social emotions
When most collaborations in the industry remain at the visual marketing stage of logo stacking, Oreo keenly observed the emotional pain point of young people in the post-pandemic era—"desiring connection but fearing social burden"—and joined forces with Coca-Cola to launch the "New Companion" series, breaking the category boundary between cookies and beverages, encouraging young people to "play together."
Through online and offline linkage, Oreo not only created a city landmark-level pop-up space in North Bund, Shanghai, but also launched the mini-program "New Companion Mission," inviting young people to break conventions and explore more possibilities of "forming companions" with like-minded friends.
This is not just a simple traffic linkage, but starting from the brand proposition of "Play Together," combined with Coca-Cola's concept of "Embrace the Moment," using "companion culture" as a fulcrum, providing consumers with a perceivable and participatory emotional solution.
3. Limited editions are not "gimmicks," but anchor spiritual resonance
Can limited editions, besides creating short-term consumption stimulation, let consumers see more possibilities?
Oreo deeply observed the uncertainty and confusion of young people about the future during the economic downturn, launched the "Cosmic Limited Edition," and through the "Name a Star" activity, transformed snack consumption into a lightweight sustenance of dreams, making the brand a "lamp bearer on the exploration path."
From starry gradient fillings to glow-in-the-dark interactive packaging, using sensory innovative design as a carrier, it transforms cosmic exploration into perceivable emotional symbols, responding to Generation Z's pursuit of "extraordinary in the ordinary" experiences.
Although Oreo is not the embodiment of dreams, it hopes to bring consumers a moment of leisure through the "Playful Universe," allowing them to slow down in their busy daily lives, release their playful spirit, and feel the power of "dreams hanging high, illuminating the way forward."
While the industry is indulging in superficial innovation, Oreo has chosen a slower, more steady path—from satisfying taste to touching emotions, from providing products to conveying feelings. Every step of its innovation tells us: a good brand does not blindly create consumption demand, but resonates with emotions; it does not chase traffic, but accumulates value.
What changes is the gameplay, what remains is the "playful spirit"
In the current business environment, for a brand to achieve longevity, should it continue to innovate or stick to existing advantages? Oreo's practice may give us some inspiration.
What "changes" is the gameplay.
From the "Coca-Cola collaboration" to the "Cosmic Limited Edition," and then to "Flavors of the Eight Directions," Oreo continuously innovates to meet consumers' emotional needs. It does not stick to the traditional attributes of snacks, but uses fresh and interesting communication methods to engage in ongoing dialogue with consumers, allowing old stories to grow new branches.
Each innovation is a response to the trends of the times and consumer emotions, rejuvenating the brand.
What "remains unchanged" is the playful spirit.
As a century-old brand, Oreo has always regarded "Play Together" as its core spirit. This "playful spirit" is not only the brand's core value but also an important pillar for building its brand moat.
No matter how the market changes, this spirit has always run through every marketing and innovation, continuously deepening brand recognition and establishing deep emotional connections with consumers.
In an era of chasing traffic, brands should be wary of innovation traps. In every marketing activity, one might ask: are users "buying for love" or "joining the fun"? After the hype fades, can it be precipitated into brand assets?
If innovation deviates from the brand's core and is just a pure traffic game, then short-term success is hard to translate into lasting competitiveness.
True long-termism is not stubbornly repeating the past, nor blindly chasing trends, but finding fresh gameplay within the "unchanged" core. While being wary of "changing for the sake of change," one should also deeply cultivate "unchanged value," find one's own "North Star," and use it as a direction to balance innovation and persistence, avoiding getting lost in traffic anxiety.